Top athletes let hair down to take part in Century Tuna Underpants Run

Almost 100 participants gathered at the Subic Yacht Club on Saturday morning clad in an assortment of underwear and costumes for the Century Tuna Underpants Run. Jaime Campos

THIS is one good way to get people into running.

Almost 100 participants gathered at the Subic Yacht Club on Saturday morning clad in an assortment of underwear and costumes for the Century Tuna Underpants Run.

Century Tuna product manager Cheska Sebial said the run for a cause started as a tradition in Kona, Hawaii where the internationally renowned race holds its annual World Championships.

The 3km run was staged along the length of Rizal Avenue and is held prior to the Ironman race itself. Saturday’s run was for the benefit of the National Greening Program of the SBMA Ecology Center.

Most of the Pro Elites were present wearing boxer-type shorts and athletic bras that displayed their lean and buff bodies while some of the more daring locals came in hula skirts.

One colorful male individual came wearing an adult diaper and a baby pacifier. One woman runner was even in the advanced stages of pregnancy. Filipina elite Monica Torres ran in a black nightie.

Sebial said they decided to start the tradition during Century Tuna’s inaugural Ironman 70.3 in 2015 but it was only this year that they added finalists of the Century Tuna SuperBod finalists, some of whom ran the whole length beside the athletes.

Cash prizes were later awarded to the top two men and women finishers in the local and foreign participants.